"I'm excited, and this was a long time coming."

That's the reaction of Shuana Richards, Pembina Valley Childcare Centres' Director, on a tour of their new child care facility in Morden.

Thursday afternoon, supporters of the project got to tour the new facility and see how their support has blossomed during development. Residents of Morden and the region were also invited to check out what the new center during a tour Thursday evening.

Richards says the facility is licensed and already has some children for Monday.

Called the "Hive" site in thanks to the work of the Hive Development group, the location will add 90 spaces (16 infant and 74 pre-school) and will make a massive dent in the waitlist, says Richards. Once those spaces have been filled, there will be roughly 15 new people employed in Morden.

The $1.29 million 7,400 sq. ft facility was built to the specifications of government, a percentage of light that must enter each room, a specific sq.ft of play space, and, most importantly, a lockdown system.

 

"All of the doors are locked, so to let people in, you have to have some sort of security system," says Richards. "For here, the Morden Area Foundation donated the funds towards our security system, which has a camera so we can see who's coming and going, and allows us to open the door."

As a non-profit organization, Richards says they rely on community support and donations for operations, and the success of this facility was no different.

"I'm just really excited, and I'm super happy this has finally happened. I just want to say thank you for everyone who's come out to support us."

Richards says PVCC now turns its focus to filling the 90 spaces and prepares plans for a renovation of the toddler room at their other Morden building.